Each week we bring you a recap of Top Chef: Boston, where our hometown heroes, Gregory Gourdet and Doug Adams, are facing off against 14 other challengers from around the country. (Click here for a quick primer)
This week’s Sudden Death Quick-Fire challenge is another Bostonian history lesson: The Boston Tea Party. Each cheftestant is tasked with highlighting tea in a dish for Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi and Guest judge Ming Tsai, superstar of culinary TV.
Our boy Gregory wins the quick-fire with a dish of tuna crudo, strawberry white tea, and coconut. “Beautiful food,” says Tsai.
In the interim, we get at brief window into Gourdet’s troubled past. “People stopped talking to me, people locked me out of their houses, people fired me,” he says, alluding to his history with drug abuse. No matter Gregory, we’re all rooting for you.
For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs are taken to Fenway Park, hallowed home of the Boston Red Sox. The challenge: create a fine dining dish using a ballpark snack as inspiration. Joining the judges in the outfield are acclaimed sports writer Dan Shaughnessy and Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, who still rocks an 80’s mop and a formidable moustache to match.
Doug Adams, who gets jilted for screen time in every episode, makes seared scallop with grilled corn, sweet corn sauce, and popcorn with piment d’espelette. Shaughnessy calls his scallops “sensational.” Gourdet cooks up roasted duck with peanut nam prik pao, peanut brittle, crispy shallots, and fresh herb salad. “This is moneyball!” exclaims judge Richard Blais.
Back at the Judges’ Table, Gourdet wins. Again. It’s his third straight victory. He is unstoppable. Let the baseball metaphors begin!
Tune in next week for our continuing coverage.
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